The lawyers filed papers Tuesday asking Judge Marjan Staniec to dismiss a challenge to the adoptions filed by the children's court-appointed guardian.

One of the cases involves two boys, a 3-year-old who has been adopted by one of the women and a 1-year-old whom she gave birth to. The other case involves a 3-year-old girl who was born to one of the women.

In both cases, the partners want to share the adoptions.

"We are family for all practical purposes," said the mother of the boys. She asked that her name not be used. "Whether the court recognizes us as equal, legal parents is irrelevant because we will raise our family that way. It would give us nice things like medical benefits (coverage)."

Geoffrey Kors, an attorney for the ACLU, said the legal adoptions will grant the couples' children coverage by either woman's medical benefits, it will allow both parents to participate in making important medical and other decisions and it will ensure that the child remains with the second mother if the first mother becomes ill or dies.

It also will preserve filial ties for both women if they break up in the future, he said.

The guardian, Edward J. O'Connell, said he challenged the adoptions because the state adoption act states only single people and legally married couples can adopt. He said the couples had no legal standing to seek adoption until the legislature amends the statute.

O'Connell said he believed more heterosexual couples have been affected by that provision in the adoption act than gay and lesbian couples. He said it has not been uncommon for members of cohabitating couples to want to adopt the other's natural child without wanting to get married.

He said that if a finding ever was made that invalidated the adoptions because the couples were not legally married, the best interests of the child would not be served.

"There is no interest served in not allowing it," Kors countered. "Nothing will change in the living situation of the children. There would just be two people legally obligated to taking care of the children."

Patricia Logue, of the Lambda Legal Defense, said the judge first must decide if the couples have standing to seek co-parent adoption and then if it is in the children's best interests to be raised with co-adoptive parents. Another Cook County judge recently found a gay couple had standing and the couple was allowed to co-adopt a child, she said.